"Douglass, Sara - Axis Trilogy 1 - Battleaxe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

"Gilbert," Axis' voice trembled with rage, "it is not up to you to single-handedly determine to destroy what the Seneschal has maintained for a thousand years."
Veremund and Ogden glanced at each other. Best that Axis continue to believe that for the time being.
"If you go back to Jayme and give him your opinion that the lot should go up in flames, and if he should agree with you, then fine. I will light the pyre myself." Ogden winced, but kept still under Axis' hand as the BatdeAxe continued. "But you have no right to destroy this building and its contents by your own judgement, Brother Gilbert. Do you understand me?"
Gilbert stared at him defiandy. "You are wrong, BatdeAxe, but I must comply with your orders. My weak body is no match against your sword, and that of your two henchmen." His eyes swept over Arne and Timozel, then returned to Axis. "But I will inform the Brother-Leader of your unreasonable and, might I say, somewhat disturbing championship of these two old Brothers and their books. Perhaps their behaviour can be excused by their weak minds, but you appear too ready to listen to words of the Forbidden, Axis, before those of the Seneschal."
"I keep an open mind," Axis snarled, "and I am willing to listen to all who are willing to talk to me. And if you want to run squealing to Jayme I cannot stop you. But, by Artor, the moment you are out of these woods you are on a fresh horse and heading back to the Tower of the Seneschal. And," Axis let go of Ogden's shoulder and stepped forward to seize the front of Gilbert s habit, "you'll take a copy of that Prophecy back to Jayme as well, if I have to brand it on your forehead. Do you understand me?"
Gilbert sneered into Axis' eyes. "You may be sure that I will report everything that I have heard and observed when I get back to the Brother-Leader, BatdeAxe. Everything."
Axis stared at him a moment longer, then let go of his habit, pushing the Brother back half a step as he did so.
S He turned to Arne. "And what were you doing in the upper levels, Arne?" he asked, his tone still low and dangerous. Arne cleared his throat. "I heard a noise, commander, and I thought I'd investigate. I knew Brother Ogden and Brother Veremund were down here." The two elderly Brothers regarded him benignly. He would do well. Axis wasn't satisfied with Arne's explanation, but he wasn't prepared to push him in front of Gilbert. He shifted his hard stare to Timozel to search for any guilty expression, then turned back to Ogden and Veremund.
"How long before you're ready?" "We're all but ready now, BattleAxe. Give us a moment to pack some food and saddle our mounts and we will be ready." "Make sure you are," Axis barked and turned to Arne and Timozel. "As you can see, Ogden and Veremund will be coming with us to render assistance as they may." Neither Arne and Timozel dared say anything in Axis' present mood. "I'm sure you're as eager as I am to get out of these Woods, so breakfast as quickly as you can and then saddle the horses."
Both Arne and Timozel understood the order as "forget breakfast and saddle the horses now!" and were quickly out the door. Axis then pulled out a bench with his foot and sat down. "Now, Gilbert. Shall we sit down and wait together?" He broke a piece of fresh bread and covered it with some bacon from a dish. "You'd better eat something, Gilbert," he said around a mouthful of bread and bacon. "You'll have a hard ride back to the Tower of the Seneschal if you want to get there as quickly as I think you do."
Gilbert merely stared at him and remained standing. Ogden and Veremund packed one remaining book into S their already bulging saddlebags, stuffed a holdall with some of the food that remained on the table, and hurried outside as well.
They were ready in under half an hour. Axis took pity on Arne and Timozel and gave each of them some food after they'd finished saddling the horses. Leaving a sulking Gilbert with the two Axemen he then helped Ogden to close the Keep down; Veremund was behind the Keep saddling their horses.
"You must be sad to leave this Keep after so long," Axis remarked softly as Ogden poured water over the fire and spread the damp ashes out.
Ogden straightened up and looked at Axis. "Yes," he said. "Both Veremund and I have spent most of our lives here. We will be sad to leave," he waved his hand vaguely around him and looked towards the upper levels of the Keep, "all our books and records, for they have become friends to us."
Axis moved closer. "You can understand that I share some of Gilbert's sentiments, old man, can you not?" he said softly. Ogden nodded, for once speechless. "I am the BattleAxe of the Axe-Wielders," Axis continued so quietly that Ogden could barely hear him. "My duty is to protect the Seneschal and Achar itself from whatever threatens it. I find it...uncomfortable, to say the least, to hear you and Veremund talking of the Forbidden as though they are old friends. You would not let your rather dubious loyalties compromise any advice that you might give me in the future — would you, old man?"
It was not a question and Ogden fully realised it. How strange that this man should appear in the guise of the BattleAxe of the Axe-Wielders, he thought to himself.
"My lord," he said, and this time he did bow. Axis' eyes narrowed at both title and action. "I understand S
your loyalties to your land and to your people and I swear on all that I hold dear that I will never compromise those loyalties."
It was an ambiguous answer, but Axis believed that Ogden meant well.
"Don't call me 'my lord'," he said shortly, and stalked out the door. Ogden paused briefly in the room. Both he and Veremund, as others, had waited eons for this moment and this man. They had sacrificed their lives for it. It was up to them to guide the future. Ogden made a quick gesture with his hands, his eyes glowing golden for an instant, then he turned and walked through the door without a backward glance.
He almost ran straight into Axis who had stopped dead in amazement at the scene before him. Gilbert, Arne and Timozel all sat on their horses, Timozel holding Belaguez's reins ready for him. Gilbert looked openly disdainful, while Arne and Timozel were looking everywhere but at Axis' face.
Veremund stood by the group of horsemen, holding the reins of two fat, long-eared, thoroughly amiable white donkeys. Both wore oversized saddles and had large crammed saddlebags, tied on to the backs of their saddles.
"You can't seriously expect to keep up riding those two donkeys," Axis said incredulously.
Ogden stalked past him and took the reins of his donkey from Veremund. "They will keep up, BattleAxe. They have impeccable breeding." He looked at his companion. "If you would be so kind, Veremund."
As Ogden put his foot into the stirrup and grasped the saddle with both hands, Veremund, his face completely expressionless, placed his hands underneath Ogden s ample posterior, and gave a single heave that almost sent his friend tumbling over the other side of the donkey.
After an anxious moment Ogden settled safely onto the donkey's back. His hair stuck out wildly and his habit had rucked up beneath his legs, but he seemed unperturbed. "See," he said triumphantly, gazing about the group. "As agile as any youth. No trouble at all."
Axis groaned and covered his face with his hands, and Timozel gave up trying not to smile and roared with laughter. Even Arne, normally not given to humour, twisted his mouth in wry amusement. Only Gilbert's face remained totally unamused.
"No trouble at all?" Axis repeated wearily. "No doubt that's why you were assigned this isolated post in the rst place, Brother Ogden. For thirty-nine years you have been no trouble at all." He swung into Belaguez's saddle, checked that Veremund was safely mounted, then waved the small group out.
The Ancient Barrows They rode out of the Woods at mid-afternoon to be met at the tree line by a profoundly relieved Belial and a small group of Axemen. Belial raised his eyebrows at the two brothers jogging along serenely on their white donkeys, but Axis, feeling exhilarated by the wide open spaces of the Tarantaise plains, kicked Belaguez into a gallop without a word. Arne slapped the rump of Gilbert's horse and, with loud whoops, he and Timozel herded Gilbert back to camp at a similar speed. Belial and his Axemen sped after the party, while the two Brothers trotted their donkeys along behind, preferring to keep to a more sedate pace.
On their way to the Axe-Wielders' camp Ogden and Veremund paused briefly to share greetings and words with a genial pig boy, driving his pigs in an easterly direction around the rim of the Silent Woman Woods.
Faraday was so overwhelmed by the sight of Axis returning that she almost burst into tears, turning away quickly as he rode by her and not acknowledging his nod and smile. She had managed to return to her bedroll undetected the previous night, and had lain awake until dawn, Yr curled in her arms, reliving again and again the nightmarish vision the trees had shown her, feeling the heat consume her, hearing the ring of steel against steel, watching Axis, covered in blood, stretch out his hand towards her, experiencing over and over again the warm ticklish sensation of blood trickling down between her breasts.
When she arose she spent a full forty minutes scrubbing her body red with icy cold water, evading her
mothers stares and questions. She was very quiet all day, and the cat stayed close to her.
After Axis' return, preparations began for breaking camp and moving out. Gilbert had been given no time to rest; Axis wanted him gone as soon as possible. He detailed five men to escort him back to the Tower of the Seneschal, giving their leader firm instructions to make sure that he got there. The packet of documents that Ogden and Veremund had made up for him was handed over with instructions that it be given straight to the Brother-Leader.
The next day the entire company moved out well before dawn. Ogden and Veremund had placed themselves at the head of the column, their donkeys surprisingly spritely and well able to keep up with the horses. But Axis was so frustrated with the two old men's continual arguing over trivialities that he sent Veremund back to ride with the women and kept Ogden with him to discuss the meaning of the prophecy.
Veremund joined the ladies happily enough, and both Merlion and Faraday thought him delightful company. Over the next two days Timozel often joined them, and, between Timozel and Veremund, Faraday sometimes found the heart to smile. But the ghasdy vision that the Silent Woman Woods had sung for her refused to fade, and Faraday became deeply upset whenever Axis rode by or stopped to chat with them. She knew Axis was puzzled by her behaviour, but every time she looked at him she could watch his sword spin uselessly across the stone floor of the Chamber of the Moons, could only see him as he stood before her, blood clotting through his hair and down his body, his hand extended in appeal towards her.
On the morning of the third day Timozel, in an effort to distract Faraday from whatever was depressing her, began to tell her about the prophecy, which had imprinted itself so vividly on his mind that he could recite it word for word. Well, all except for the filial verse, which was a little hazy. Faraday was so fascinated that the hateful vision receded to the back of her mind for the first time in days. She asked many questions of Timozel and Veremund, wanting to know all Veremund could tell her about the Forbidden and the ancient land of Tenceiidor.
She pulled the collar of her cloak a little tighter in the cold wind and edged her horse closer to the elderly Brother jogging along on his white donkey. "Do you mean that the Forbidden and our people lived in harmony in Achar?"
"Tencendor, it was called then," Veremund corrected her. "Yes, dear one, for many thousands of years."
Faraday frowned. "But how could we live in peace with them when they are so terrible, so frightening?"
"The Seneschal teaches that the Icarii and the Avar are frightening. 'Twas only after the Seneschal gained influence in Tencendor, teaching the way of the Plough, that the rift between the races started."
Faraday did not like the implications of what Veremund was saying. "Do you mean that . . ." she paused, "that the . . . Icarii and the Avar were not at fault in the war between the followers of the Plough and themselves? That the Seneschal started it?"
"The Forbidden were evil creatures and that is why the Seneschal helped the armies of Achar drive them from this land and clear their filthy nests and forests," Merlion snapped.
Her words silenced the others for a moment, but Faraday turned back to Veremund. "Brother, what sort of creatures were the Icarii and the Avar?"
Veremund thought for a moment. "We have their songs and their histories and their records, but in actuality they tell us relatively little about what they looked like or how they lived. The Icarii preferred high places and studied the movements of the stars and of the sun and the moon. Perhaps that is why they were called the people of the Wing. They tended to live in the hills and mountains of Tencendor. The Avar, why, they were people of the forest and had a special relationship with the land. Some of the passages that Brother Ogden and I have read suggest that they could talk to the trees."
Faraday gasped and reined her horse back a pace or two from Veremund's donkey. "Mother was right," she said tightly, "they were evil creatures and it is right that the Seneschal drove them from this land."
That afternoon the long column of Axe-Wielders approached a series of massive mounds, each about one hundred paces high and two hundred long. Their sides were steep and covered with low bushes and turf; each with a flattened top that was covered in bright yellow and red flowers. There were almost thirty of them stretching in a crescent for over half a league. Axis called the column to a halt and turned to Belial who was riding beside him.
"Do you know what these are, Belial?" Belial started to say something, but it was Ogden who answered from his position behind Axis. "It is said that these are the burial mounds of some of the ancient kings of Tencendor, BattleAxe."
Ogden kicked his donkey up beside the BattleAxe, and Axis stared flatly at him for a moment, dislike for the man simmering just below the surface. Over the past three days Ogden had talked about the ancient land of Tencendor, and each additional piece of information he gave made Axis feel increasingly uncomfortable. He had always vaguely assumed that the land he had lived in, the Seneschal and the way of the Plough had always been, but now he was discovering that Achar as he knew it had once not existed, the Seneschal had once never existed, and that his own race and those of the Forbidden had lived side by side in an ancient land called Tencendor. It was unsettling.
"So," he said smoothly after a moment, "men once ruled over the Forbidden, did they?"